Wast Water Depth Map & Fishing Spots (UK)

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Lake depth chart

Wast Water, UK

Max 258 ft

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Where to start

Sedge season & the Murrough window is on — see the hatch outlook

Hatch outlook

Sedge season & the MurroughActive window

Typical here: Jun 1 – Sep 30 · the Murrough and Green Peter are lough patterns from July, peaking the last weeks of August; evening sedge fishing runs to the season close

pupawarm summer evenings as the light fades
adultlate evening into dark, on calm water — the great red sedge is large enough to provoke explosive surface takes from big trout — fished dry off the shorelines and on the drift

Big-fish-on-top fishing in the last two hours of light — the sedge weeks of late August produce some of the best days of the lough year.

The evening sedge pulls big trout to the shorelines in low light — exactly when small surface plugs and slow-twitched 4–5cm minnowbaits shine along the rocky shores and weed edges; or run a bubble float with a dry Murrough behind it, twitched on the pause.

The event happens over lough shorelines, rocky shallows and weed edges on warm, calm summer evenings

Daddy-Long-Legs (crane fly)Active window

Typical here: Jul 1 – Oct 15 · dapped daddies documented from early July on Corrib; the famous window is mid-August through September, with grasshopper dapping in the same weeks

adultdaytime, on a drift with a wave — best on the breezy days that blow craneflies off the banks — the documented method is dapping: a natural or artificial daddy on a long rod and floss line, skipping across the surface ahead of the drifting boat; a dry daddy on the drift is the modern equivalent

The autumn wake-up: big trout that ignored everything through June and July suddenly become aggressive — often the largest browns of the season on a dry fly.

Fish the windward drifts where the terrestrials land — surface plugs twitched on a wave, or a bubble float trailing a daddy skipped on the surface (dapping with spin gear, effectively). The late-season big-fish window before the September close.

The event happens over windward shorelines, island shallows and drift lines on breezy August–September days

Next on this water

Buzzers & Duckfly (chironomids) · midgeMar 15 – Jun 30 · in ~6 months

Spring roach spawn (predator event) · baitfishApr 15 – Jun 15 · in ~7 months

Hawthorn Fly · terrestrialsApr 18 – May 15 · in ~7 months

The Mayfly (Ephemera danica) · mayflyApr 25 – Jul 5 · in ~7 months

Recommendations come from depth structure and seasonal species behavior. Treat them as a starting point, not a guarantee. Contours here are generated from real agency depth surveys; use the survey badge for the provider, dataset, datum and measured coverage. Never use for navigation. Always check local regulations.

Depth · ft

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Recent catches at Wast Water

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Fishing Wast Water: what the data says

686-acre lake near Cumbria. The lake tops out around 258 ft. The depth chart comes from British Library bathymetric survey data, so the contours are survey-derived rather than computer-modeled. Here's the year, species by species, as the scoring engine sees it.

Wast Water maps at 685 acres behind 6.9 miles of shoreline. A middling shoreline index (1.9) gives it some bays to work without being a maze. Roughly 15% of the water is 15 ft or less, the band where the food chain lives. Figure 3 mi of water from one end to the other, 0.7 mi at the beam. It sits in Cumbria. Its nearest charted neighbour, Greendale Tarn, is 1 mi to the northwest.

Brown Trout fishing at Wast Water

Start shallow in spring: brown trout sit in 3 to 25 ft that time of year. Warm water sends them out to 25 to 60 ft; cold water stacks them in 5 to 35 ft. Fish it in after dark and early morning and you'll meet the bite. Throw a spoon at the thermocline or a deep stickbait (night) until the fish tell you otherwise.

Season	Depth	Best window	Start at	Go-to baits
Spring	3 to 25 ft	dawn & dusk	open water	Stickbait off planer boards (shallow), Small spoon along mud lines
Summer	25 to 60 ft	night & dawn	open water	Spoon at the thermocline, Deep stickbait (night)
Fall	5 to 30 ft	dusk & dawn	open water	Jerkbait over gravel, Casting spoon
Winter	5 to 35 ft	dawn	open water	Jigging spoon, Small stickbait (slow)

European Perch fishing at Wast Water

When the water first warms, european perch slide up into 3 to 12 ft. Summer is an 8 to 28 ft game here, winter a 12 to 33 ft one. The feeding windows run early morning. Keep a drop-shot micro plastics or a small crankbait (perch pattern) rigged through the warm months.

Season	Depth	Best window	Start at	Go-to baits
Spring	3 to 12 ft	midday & dawn	open water	Small jig + curly tail, Inline spinner #1-2
Summer	8 to 28 ft	dawn	open water	Drop-shot micro plastics, Small crankbait (perch pattern)
Fall	10 to 33 ft	midday	open water	Jigging spoon (small), Drop-shot on deep flats
Winter	12 to 33 ft	midday & dawn	open water	Tungsten jig + maggots, Small balance jig

Northern Pike fishing at Wast Water

Spring northern pike on Wast Water hold shallow, usually 2 to 8 ft. They move out to 8 to 20 ft in summer and finish the year down in 5 to 15 ft. The feeding windows run early morning and the evening. The summer box starts with a bucktail or a weedless spoon over cabbage.

Season	Depth	Best window	Start at	Go-to baits
Spring	2 to 8 ft	midday & dawn	open water	#5 inline spinner, Spoon (red/white)
Summer	8 to 20 ft	dawn & dusk	open water	Bucktail, Weedless spoon over cabbage
Fall	6 to 18 ft	midday & dawn	open water	Big rubber (Bull Dawg style), Husky-style jerkbait
Winter	5 to 15 ft	midday	open water	Tip-ups, Large jigging spoon

Arctic Char fishing at Wast Water

Spring puts arctic char in skinny water — 4 to 15 ft is the zone. As the season builds they drop to 20 to 60 ft, wintering in 10 to 40 ft. Warm-month bites cluster around early morning. A jigging spoon vertical or a tube jig (smelt) covers the summer program.

Season	Depth	Best window	Start at	Go-to baits
Spring	4 to 15 ft	midday & dawn	open water	Small casting spoon (silver/orange), Jerkbait (small)
Summer	20 to 60 ft	dawn	open water	Jigging spoon vertical, Tube jig (smelt)
Fall	8 to 30 ft	midday & dusk	open water	Casting spoon (orange/gold), Beadhead streamer
Winter	10 to 40 ft	midday & dawn	open water	Jigging spoon (glow/silver), Tungsten jig + plastic

Notable structure

Wast Water carries 7 mapped structure features, topping out (or rather bottoming out) at Deep basin, about 256 ft down.

Deep basin: deep basin, around 256 ft
Break off the point: drop-off, around 225 ft
Feeding flat: feeding flat, around 38 ft
Main-lake point: point, around 1 ft
Secondary point: point, around 1 ft
Shallow bay flat: feeding flat, around 1 ft
Back-bay flat: feeding flat, around 1 ft

Common questions

How deep is Wast Water?

Wast Water is about 258 ft (79 m) deep at its deepest point. The depth chart comes from British Library bathymetric survey data, so the contours are survey-derived rather than computer-modeled.

What fish are in Wast Water?

Anglers target brown trout, european perch, northern pike, arctic char on Wast Water. This isn't a survey of the water — none is published for it — but an informed estimate from the species common to the region, narrowed by this water's depth, size and each species' range.

When is the best time to fish Wast Water?

For brown trout, the summer bite is best in after dark and early morning. Each species page section below lists the seasonal windows, and the map shows a live NOW badge when you're inside one.

Nearby waters

Greendale Tarn 1 mi · Burnmoor Tarn 2 mi · Low Tarn 2 mi · Scoat Tarn 3 mi · Buttermere 6 mi · Ennerdale Water 7 mi · Crummock Water 8 mi · Dock Tarn 9 mi · Blea Tarn 10 mi · Loweswater 10 mi · Elter Water or Elterwater 11 mi · Grasmere 11 mi

See how Wast Water stacks up: best northern pike lakes in United Kingdom · best european perch lakes in United Kingdom · best brown trout lakes in United Kingdom · best arctic char lakes in United Kingdom

More water nearby: Cumbria fishing maps (32 charts). Browse all United Kingdom fishing maps. See every water on DepthScout. Bathymetry: published agency survey data. How we build these maps. Fish here with a sonar unit that logs? Send us your depth data and we'll improve this chart, credited to you. For fishing guidance only, never navigation.